Product Review: Doing Good Together: 101 Easy, Meaningful Service Projects for Families, Schools, and Communities [Paperback]
Building strong families, caring kids and a better world
I have never done any great analysis in this area but I imagine that having both of my parents choose social work as a profession may have something to do with my outlook on volunteerism and wanting to help others. Volunteering didn’t really even enter into my mind as a definition until I was much older. Volunteering to help others was just something you did. Whether it was for public schools, food banks, shelters, nursing homes or just individuals who needed a little help, our family was usually involved with the effort to help those in need. I have memories of my dad getting upset at my mom who would spend her last dollar or some of our limited grocery money on others she felt less fortunate just because a person would ask her for help (no questions asked!). I spent many childhood hours playing a pseudo-Price Is Right Barker’s Beauty at our local nursing home, clocking hours toting carts of food at our local food bank and overseeing things like a semi-annual booth at Art in the Park (I do a mean Cats Cradle) on behalf of our local library. There was no special prize at the end of the day or even any talk of why we did these things for others; I just learned that is how you live your life. I can sometimes see the skepticism in others when I do something just to be nice, as if they think you have some sort of ulterior motive. I find that sad. There are times I have wondered if people take advantage of my good intentions and acts, but these are usually fleeting thoughts that do not stop me from doing things that I think are ‘good’ to do. Now that my daughter is getting older, I want to start incorporating her in our family involvement in meaningful service projects for our community. I would love for her to learn that she can positively impact others in our community just by taking the time to help others. The book Doing Good Together: 101 Easy, Meaningful Service Projects for Families, Schools, and Communities seemed like the perfect place to start looking for some great service project ideas for our family.
Another fantastic Free Spirit Publishing book (seriously, Free Spirit? Any job openings for a blogger?), Doing Good Together is a wonderful book for families interested in volunteerism and is looking for ways to reach out and help others. The book breaks down service projects for families, schools and communities in 12 different categorized chapters; Provide Friendship and Comfort, Help Promote Education and Literacy, Raise Funds, Ease Poverty, Promote Peace, Justice and Social Action, Help Those Who are Sick, Aging and Disabled, Support the Troops, Celebrate Holidays and Special Occasions, Families Can Do on their Own, Community Building Games, Help the Environment and Animals and Projects to Do Offsite. The Introduction to the book talks in great detail about how to incorporate service projects in to your family, offers keys on how to make your projects successful and also includes a CD with PDF printouts from the book such as the ‘Family Service Project Evaluation Form’ to give each family member input as to whether they felt the chosen project was successful for their family. Brilliant! The 101 ways to reach out are so nicely categorized that there is really no excuse to not find a few perfect projects that require little time to help others in need. Different projects like making ‘fabulous’ fringe scarves, creating a healthcare kit, sending a caring card or making super sandwiches, this book really does house lots of great family friendly projects in the spirit of volunteering. I was particularly touched by the Suitcases for Foster Kids project and checked out the www.suitcasesforkids.org to learn how to do something similar in my local area. This book is truly a wonderful resource and I look forward to sharing these activities with my family for many years to come.
About Doing Good Together: Jenny Friedman PhD is a former teacher and clinician that created the Minneapolis-based non-profit ‘Doing Good Together’ to help inspire families to volunteer. She has written many practical guides on volunteerism. She co-authored Doing Good Together to give families easy yet meaningful service project opportunities on a local and national scale. Check out her page to read 10 Reasons Why Family Service Matters! Check it out! Go to Free Spirit Publishing’s Doing Good Together webpage for additional downloads, including learning more about the service project, Blanket the World.
List Price: $24.99 (Currently $17.81 through Amazon.com)
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